Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.14

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from Unity Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13.

Unity Bancorp has raised its dividend payment by an average of 13.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Unity Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 9.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Unity Bancorp to earn $5.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.6%.

Unity Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ UNTY opened at $46.16 on Friday. Unity Bancorp has a 1 year low of $25.60 and a 1 year high of $51.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $460.95 million, a P/E ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 25.24%. On average, research analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP James Joseph Donovan sold 1,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total transaction of $52,790.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,178. The trade was a 17.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total transaction of $92,035.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,415.84. The trade was a 17.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,758 shares of company stock worth $700,874. 28.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on UNTY shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $54.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

Unity Bancorp Company Profile

Unity Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Unity Bank that provides range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small and medium sized businesses, and professional communities. It offers personal and business checking accounts, time deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, and retirement accounts, as well as noninterest and interest-bearing demand deposits.